Study Abroad - July 1, 2009

First full day in Ireland!

Our group headed to Gallarus Oratory which is a stone church from the 8th century. It looks like a beehive, doesn't it?

From there we went back to Dingle to pick up another girl in our program who had missed her flight. I took a picture of the pub I had dinner in last night and then Dani and I went exploring in the town. For lunch we all went to Inch Beach. It was my first time to the Atlantic Ocean! It was a pretty overcast day but we still ran around in the water, took lots of pictures, and had a good time.

Our bus driver, John, sings to us sometimes. He knows a lot of Irish songs that have been written about specific cities that we are visiting. I finally recorded him because he's so good! We drive A LOT. While driving through the various little towns I have been stuck by the cemetaries. This country is so much older than American and yet Ireland's cemetaries seem to be in better shape. The writing on the headstones looks so much clearer.

We took a short break at the Gap of Dunloe which is a gorgeous valley people can hike around in.

Our hostel tonight is located just outside Killarney and I've had the song "Christmas in Killarney" stuck in my head all day! Our group went into town for dinner and we ate at the Danny Mann pub because they had free wi-fi. My original room at the hostel was a no-go: the door wouldn't shut. So, they moved us into a TINY room but another room had empty beds so Dani, Rachel and I went into that room. This was the coolest looking building! We had a whole wing to ourselves so we played Twister and watched The Sword in the Stone. Well, other people watched The Sword in the Stone. After about 15 minutes I was falling asleep so I headed to bed. What a great day!


Gallarus Oratory

The pub where I had dinner. It's the blue and orange building.

Dani and I at Inch Beach

One view of our room in Killarney